The “Thursday Murder Club,” written by Richard Osman was first published in 2020 and is the first installment in his “Thursday Murder Club” series.
Photo courtesy Wikipedia.
By Irena Mesa
“The Thursday Murder Club” is a fresh take on the classic murder mystery, following four retirees who solve cold cases from the nursing home they reside in.
This interesting premise is why University of South Florida St. Petersburg Regional Chancellor Christian Hardigree chose it to kick off Rocky’s Book Club on Sept. 29.
The club serves as a community resource and a way to bring more people into the bookstore. After some brainstorming between the university’s marketing department and bookstore, a book club seemed like a natural progression.
“It’s an informal gathering about companionship and community,” Hardigree told The Crow’s Nest. “We’ll be talking about what we liked or didn’t like about [the book]. The free snacks don’t hurt, either.”
Along with discussions on books, attendees will have free snacks and discounted drinks from the bookstore’s Starbucks. This month’s book will be offered at a discounted price.
Hardigree agreed to lead the club’s first meeting out of a passion for books and reading, including the one she chose.
“People have a misunderstanding of folks in a retirement home, that they’re just sitting around and eating pasty food and playing board games. And that’s it,” Hardigree said. “So, this very vibrant group of people who come together and use those experiences to connect and solve a crime, I think, is really attractive.”
The age of the main cast of characters was also something that stuck out to Hardigree when she read the book.
“It gives hope. At least for me. I just lost my mom a couple months ago and any time you lose someone in your life, you start thinking about your own life and mortality and aging,” Hardigree said. “It gives me hope that if I’m at that point in my life, there’s still something fun to do and there are fun people to do it with, even in my twilight years.”
For those who have not yet read “The Thursday Murder Club,” Hardigree told The Crow’s Nest that they should at least watch the Netflix film based on the book before coming to the book club meeting. While she noted it is a bit different from the novel, it will tell them everything they need to know.
There are two other books lined up for this semester’s sessions of Rocky’s Book Club to start things up.
“It’s kind of a mixed bag of genres,” said Collen Cherry, one of the event’s coordinators. “We’re starting out with fiction, and then next month, there is a totally different topic, ‘Iran’s Rise and Rivalry with the U.S. and the Middle East,’ by Mosen Milani, a USF professor. Then we have a book by Peter Singer, with the discussion led by Howard Rutherford.”
“I think there will be some really exciting conversations about each of them,” Cherry said.
The meeting led by Milani is on October 16 from 5 to 6 p.m. and Rutherford’s meeting is scheduled for November 5 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
